


Traditions, presents, and secrets

by Kayim



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 08:28:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17200076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayim/pseuds/Kayim
Summary: Roy never knows what to buy as presents. Especially not if he wants it to mean something. He's just not sure what he wants it to mean.





	Traditions, presents, and secrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Merfilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/gifts).



> Set during some vague Teen Titans era, when the team comprises of Dick, Roy, Donna, Wally and Kory.

Roy hated shopping for presents.

At least when he’d not had any money, or anyone he was close to, he didn’t need to worry about what to buy for other people. But now, with friends – family if he was being completely honest with himself – and enough money that he could afford to splurge a little, he knew he had to do something.

They all celebrated different holidays, including at least two of the team who followed religions not of this Earth, but they made a decision that they would celebrate one specific day each year as a group. It changed every year. 

This year it was September 30th.

Dick was always in charge of the kitchen, commandeering whoever and whatever he needed to produce enough food for everyone. Roy suspected there were a few lengthy phone calls to a certain butler for advice, but Dick denied it. 

This year, Roy had drawn the easy straw, needing only to pick up enough alcohol and soda for the party. He managed that almost a week earlier; now all he had to worry about was buying presents.

He didn’t know whether to go practical – weapons and gadgets – or go with something more… personal. He knew that Donna enjoyed photography, and that Wally loved reading anything he hadn’t already read (even if it would only keep him busy for a few minutes). Kory would appreciate anything shiny or sparkly; she’d gone crazy over the holiday decorations the first time they’d done this, and insisted on doing them every year. 

But Dick? He had no idea what to get him at all. For all the time they spent together, all the times they’d discussed everything from their childhoods to their favourite TV shows, he still couldn’t think of a decent present. How do you find something in a shop that says ‘thank you for saving my ass a hundred times’? Or ‘thank you for putting up with me when everyone else would have given up already’?

How do you buy a gift for the person who means everything to you?

He’d been to the mall a dozen times before, and everything seemed _wrong_. Until he saw them in the window of a martial arts store that had apparently only just opened.

*

Dick was the last to open his gifts, as always. And, like he always did, he left Roy’s gift until he’d opened all the others.

“I’m hoping this is safe to open in front of the kids,” Dick laughed, gently shaking the box. “I remember last year’s present.”

Roy grinned. “But tell me you didn’t appreciate it?”

Dick laughed.

He opened the box painfully slowly, easing the tape off and carefully unfolding the paper. The long cardboard box was plain black, with no markings to give away its contents. Roy held his breath as Dick eased the lid off.

“Oh.” Dick’s gasp was soft, almost reverential.

Dick’s eyes seem to light up as he reached into the box, gently pulling out the contents and holding them aloft for the others to see.

“Eskrima.” Of course Donna knew what they were.

These ones were plain black, with no shading on them. Roy watched as Dick balanced them in his hands, familiarising himself with the weight. It only took him a few seconds before he was spinning them around, looking for all the world as though he’d been practising with them for years. 

He turned to Roy with a smile. “I’ve wanted a set of sticks for years. How did you know?”

Roy shrugged, but didn’t answer. The truth was that he hadn’t known, not until he’d seen them. And then he couldn’t imagine them belonging anywhere else but with Dick. How do you explain that?

“Just saw them and thought of you.”

Dick – never one to hold back on the physical affection with his friends – threw his arms around Roy. Roy tried not to pay attention to the butterfly feelings in his stomach, or the blush that he knew must be showing on his face, but squeezed back. He felt Dick’s warm breath on his cheek.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I love them.”

_And I love you,_ Roy didn’t reply. “Happy holidays.”


End file.
